URGENT CONCERNS about bus services have 'caused an outcry' in Yate and Chipping Sodbury.
MP Claire Young says she has 'taken up residents’ deep concerns' about changes to the Y1/Y2 and Y6 services in a meeting with the managing director of First Bus West of England, Doug Claringbold.
Ms Young plus Chris Willmore - who represents the Yate North ward on South Gloucestershire Council - met Mr Claringbold on Friday to put the case for keeping the current Y1 and Y2 routes and the early Y6 service.
From September 1, the following changes are set to be implemented.
The Y1 will have a revised route running anti-clockwise loop of South Yate and will not go to Chipping Sodbury.
The Y2 will also have a revised route, running direct from Yate Bus Station to Ladden Garden Village via Goose Green Way, Peg Hill, Eastfield Drive, Leechpool Way, Cowles Road and Dowsell Way.
The Y6 meanwhile will run from Mondays to Saturdays every 90 minutes.
The route has been extended to Chipping Sodbury (St John's Way) and will start from Union Street in the centre of Bristol and not the bus station.
These changes have caused deep concerns, including that Chipping Sodbury will have one regular bus every 90 minutes and would be a 'blow to businesses, commuters, hospital patients, schoolchildren and the elderly'.
Claire Young MP said: “If these changes go ahead, it will have a massive impact on bus users in Chipping Sodbury and parts of Yate.
“Chipping Sodbury will have just one bus every 90 minutes, the Y6, and the occasional 620 to Bath, but no direct services to Bristol.
"Those on the Birds estate and in parts of North Yate face losing the Y1 and Y2 they rely on.
“It will be a blow to businesses in Chipping Sodbury and bus users will be cut off from the shops and services in the centre of Yate.
"It will be harder for commuters to get to work and children to get to school.
"These services aren’t just about getting people to and from Bristol, they help people get about our towns.
"Elderly residents can’t be expected to get up the hill from Yate without a bus.
“People who work at Southmead rely on the early Y6 bus service to get them there for the start of their shift. That will no longer be possible.
“The managing director listened and promised to go away and think about what can be done.
"I hope there can be an urgent rethink on these damaging changes.”
A spokesperson for First West of England said: “Our Managing Director and Head of Network had a really productive meeting with both local MP Claire Young and South Gloucestershire councillor Chris Willmore recently when we explained the reasons behind the changes to our Y services.
“We considered feedback and looked at our data before making the changes, and in summary the low passenger numbers outweigh the cost of running the services.
"At present, the Y1 and Y2 services are supported by government funding through its Bus Service Improvement Plan, and it’s important that we look at our data and make changes to the services to secure their future if and when that funding comes to an end.
"While the Y6 also has low passenger numbers, it receives no government funding.
“We recognise that when we make changes to the network they aren’t always going to suit everyone's needs, but we always consider the wider network and try to minimise disruption while ensuring communities are still connected, even if that means using different services or catching connecting buses.
“With the government’s £2 single flat fare scheme still in place, bus travel remains affordable at a time when the cost of living is still high, and it’s really important that we all do what we can to encourage more people to use the bus to secure the future of services.”
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